The unidentified woman, who was in her late 30s, claimed facial and psychological injuries after a glass light fitting fell from the wall above the bed in her hotel room while she was having sex with a male friend.

The fixture hit her in the face, injuring her nose and mouth, the Associated Press reported. The woman, who was on a business trip to Nowra, 100 miles south of her hometown of Sydney, later suffered depression and was unable to continue working for the government.

The male friend said in a statement at the time that they were "going hard" and that he did not know if they bumped the light or it just fell down during the tryst in 2007.

The woman's initial compensation claim was initially accepted by Comcare, the federal government's insurer, but was later revoked after an administrative tribunal ruled that sex was "not an ordinary incident of an overnight stay" such as showering, sleeping and eating, the AP reported.

After three appeals, however, the Full Bench of the Federal Court ruled last week that in the absence of misconduct or any intentionally self-inflicted injury, the injuries should be considered as sustained during "the course of her employment."

The court noted that she would also have been entitled to compensation if she had been playing a game of cards in her hotel room and the fact that sexual activity was involved "rather than some other lawful recreational activity" should not be considered a disqualifying factor.